Thursday, December 31, 2009

13 AG's Threaten Suit

Thirteen Republican state attorneys general are threatening to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Senate health care bill.

In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said he had “grave concerns” about the deal Senate leaders cut with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) to secure his crucial vote for the health care package.

“The current iteration of the bill contains a provision that affords special treatment to the state of Nebraska under the federal Medicaid program,” writes McMaster. “We believe this provision is constitutionally flawed. As chief legal officers of our states we are contemplating a legal challenge to this provision and we ask you to take action to render this challenge unnecessary by striking that provision.”

There's plenty of politics here. Henry McMasters is running for Governor in South Carolina and so are several of the 13 that signed the provision. The article didn't say what constitutional ground these folks would challenge under but I assume it's the fourteenth amendment which stipulates everyone is treated equally under the law. As such, a state can't get special favors that other states don't get.